Abstract
Many efforts have been made to convert D-xylose to ethanol. Studies include a search in nature for xylose-fermenting yeasts; mutagenesis of xylose-utilized yeasts such asPachysolen trannophilus (1),Candida sp. (2), and gene transformation of well-characterized strongly fermenting yeasts to introduce a xylose utilization pathway (3,4).
Most yeast that are capable of D-xylose catabolism, use two enzymes for D-xylose conversion to D-xylulose (5). Xylose reductase couples NADPH to reduce D-xylose to xylitol, which is then oxidized to D-xylulose by xylitol dehydrogenase and NAD+. Once D-xylulose is formed, this intermediate flows through Pentoshunt and cooperates with glycolytic pathway to produce ethanol. However, the regulation of cofactor such as NADPH or NAD+ in the yeast cells often causes an inefficient D-xylose metabolism (6). This limitation can be overcome by introducing a xylose isomerase gene into the yeast cells for direct, cofactor-free conversion of D-xylose to D-xylulose, then it results in a high ethanol production from D-xylose fermentation.
Previously, we reported the production of ethanol from D-xylose by the fission yeastSchizosaccharomyces pombe transformed with the xylose isomerase plasmid (3,7). The genetically modifiedS. pombe has the same physiological behaviors and morphology as that of the nongenetically modified one (unpublished data). Furthermore, the subsequent integration of the plasmid into the chromosomal DNA of the hostS. pombe has been verified by using the dot blot and southern blot techniques (8). The expressed xylose isomerase has shown activity by a technique of nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (8). In this study, the effects of environmental conditions on direct D-xylose fermentation by this yeast were described.
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Chan, EC., Ueng, P.P. & Chen, L.F. Environmental effects on D-xylose fermentation bySchizosaccharomyces pombe . Appl Biochem Biotechnol 20, 221–232 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02936484
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02936484